Mr. George McIntyre called the meeting to order at 11:35 am. He then asked Mrs. Rachel Hamaie to call the roll. Mr. McIntyre indicated that Dr. Randall Dozier had requested and received an excused absence. Mr. McIntyre then noted for the record that media notification had been made in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, and that a quorum was present.

Mr. McIntyre presented the minutes of the August 9, 2008 Board Meeting to the Board for approval. Mr. W. Coleman made a motion for the minutes to be approved. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Gail Richardson. The minutes received unanimous approval by the Board.

Academic Affairs and Accreditation Committee:

Ms. Lisa Emery reported that the Committee heard a report from the faculty chair, Mr. Keith Best, informing them that the ROTC program has been approved by the faculty governance process. Other new courses are also being offered, such as a specialist degree in psychology.

The committee also received a report from Enrollment Management.This year there have been increases in every admission category. In addition, the committee was informed that 95% of FMU’s enrollment comes from South Carolina, 79% of students have a GPA of 3.0 or higher, and that 65% of FMU’s incoming students ranked in the top 1/3 of their high school class. These numbers reflect that FMU is attracting high level students from through South Carolina, especially the Pee Dee Region.

The first Open House was held on October 18, 2008. The second open house will be held on November 8, 2008, for which 229 people are registered to attend.

Alissa Warters, the Director for the McNair Center, informed the Committee that the center will select two McNair scholars for the 09-10 year. These will be South Carolina residents who have an interest in public service. These students will receive a full scholarship, which will include study abroad.

Ms. Emery then made a motion to approve Resolution 06-08, a resolution authorizing the offering of the master of education degree in learning disabilities at an off campus site in Dillon County, South Carolina. Mrs. Richardson seconded the motion. The resolution received unanimous approval by the Board.

Development and Alumni Committee:

Mr. Coleman reported that the Education and Foundation Board met on October 22, 2008. The audit report was presented at that meeting and was very positive. As of June 30, 2008 total assets were valued at $18.6 million. Also at this meeting chairman Reamer King appointed a committee to assess future real estate holdings consisting of Mr. Frank Avent, Mr. Grady Greer, Mr. Hood Temple and Mr. Rounder Saverance.

The annual Scholarship Reception will be held on November 13, 2008. 213 donors and 260 students were invited. On Thursday, March 12, 2008 the athletic auction will be held at The Cottage. This will be followed by the annual golf tournament on March 13, 2008 at the Country Club of South Carolina.

The committee also received an Alumni report. The Department of Psychology held its annual alumni reception and program on October 1, 2008 with Dr. Connie Matthews receiving the professional psychology award. A baseball alumni event was held on October 3-4, 2008. There with 40 alumni players in attendance. The Alumni Association Past Presidents Council met on September 18, 2008 and Mr. James Howell was selected as the Distinguished Alumni of the Year. The Benjamin wall Ingram Award will go to Mr. Andrew Ross. The Department of Biology held its annual alumni reception on October 23, 2008. Randall Lacross received the Larry Swails Award and Debbie Hyler received the John Boyce Award

Other upcoming alumni events that were announced are:

November 11, 2008Alumni Board Meeting

December 13, 2008New Graduate Reception

January 10, 2009Alumni Board Retreat and Planning Meeting

February 5, 2009 Alumni Membership Dinner

February 12, 2009School of Education Alumni Reception

February 13, 2009School of Business Alumni Breakfast

February 14, 2009Homecoming

Executive Affairs Committee:

Mr. McIntyre reported that the executive committee met but no action was taken.

Financial Affairs and Facilities Committee:

Mrs. Richardson asked the Board Members to turn to the Budget Summary at the last tab in their notebooks. She asked them to note the line for state appropriations. FMU operates with 39% of its budget derived from state appropriations. This is the largest percent in the state among the comprehensive institutions. The budget summary currently reflects a 3% reduction, thus far, with a possible 14.8% reduction expected.

The Performing Arts Center is moving forward. On October 16, 2008 M.B. Kahn was chosen as the contractor for this project.

Mrs. Richardson then presented Resolution 07-08, a resolution for the modification of the Francis Marion University Real Estate Foundation Bylaws, for approval with the recommendation of the Financial Affairs and Facilities Committee. Mrs. Carolyn Shortt seconded this motion. The resolution received unanimous approval by the Board.

Student Affairs and Athletics Committee:

Mr. Robert Lee discusses the effects that the budget cuts will have on student life during the morning committee meeting. The university will make adjustments in programming to accommodate the cuts.

The basketball team will travel to Amsterdam to play over the Christmas break. The University will incur no cost for this trip.

President’s Report:

Dr. Carter began by asking Sen. Hugh Leatherman to brief the Board on the current state of the budget of South Carolina.

Sen. Leatherman began by informing the Board that the South Carolina sales tax was down by $86 million in October. If the decrease on sales tax on food is factored in, the actual shortfall is around $30 to $40 million. Any further reductions are likely to occur in February.

Dr. Carter thanked Sen. Leatherman for being the voice of moderation in the legislature during these difficult times. He then repeated Mrs. Richardson’s report that the cuts will represent a reduction of $2.8 million dollars in FMU’s budget.

The University will take these cuts from 4 major areas. One area involves the community outreach programs, such at the Rural Assistance Program, The Small and Minority Business Program, and other programs that are important to the institution, but are not instructional programs. These reductions will generate $900,000.

The next area targeted for reductions are the operating budgets of the university, exclusive of personnel costs. The plan is to take a 7 % reduction in the academic operations budgets and a 15% reduction in the administrative operation budget, which yields roughly $500,000.

The third area targeted is the area of human resources. The University would realize these reductions by holding existing vacancies, not providing compression increase monies, and maintaining the positions we currently have without filling any openings. This generates roughly $600,000.Lastly, debt service and reserve funds will bring $800,000 in cuts and reductions.

With this plan, academic programs have been protected, and the impact on student life and student activities has been minimized. Also, present staffing levels have been maintained. At the present time, no layoffs or furloughs are expected.

There are, however, two likely interim impacts on the university. First, the university will likely ask the Board to consider a delay of the renovation of the Ervin Dining Hall for one year. In addition, the Board will likely be asked to delay he construction of the athletic campus. Two factors contribute to these delays: bond financing and the institutional bond market.

Mr. McIntyre thanked Dr. Carter and the senior staff for their calm planning in difficult times.

Dr. Carter reminded the Board of the upcoming Pee Dee Fiction festival and the lunch with the authors following the Board Meeting. Dr. Carter then commented that he agreed with Ms. Emery that the current financial situation will likely continue to increase the enrollment at FMU due to our low tuition and the quality of our programs. The open house in October had record numbers and the open house scheduled for November 8th is expected to be very successful as well. Dr. Carter then asked Mrs. Libby Cooper to show the Board two new commercials for the university, which will air on local and cable channels.

Unfinished Business

None

New Business

None

Mr. McIntyre reminded the Board of Commencement on December 13, 2008. Mr. Hayne Hipp will be an honorary degree recipient and the Commencement Speaker. Sen. Gerald Malloy and Mayor Frank Willis will also receive honorary degrees.

Mr. Jimmy Brown made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Lee seconded the motion. The Board adjourned the meeting at 12:11 pm.